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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Begonias for Folliage Follow-Up

On the day after Bloom Day each month, Pam at Digging hosts Foliage Follow Up to remind us of the importance of foliage in our gardens. Be sure to click over to her blog to find links to FFU posts from other garden bloggers.

I've decided to look at some of my begonias for FFU this month.

B. 'Gene Daniels'

You can see the sheen of the leaf surface better with a flash but not so much the red glow when the sun is shining through it like above. The underside of the leaves is a beautiful red color.

On to the Rexes. This has been the summer of our discontent! They've usually performed brilliantly for me, even returning in the spring from pots left out in very sheltered spots. This one, a "Jurassic" begonia, came with huge leaves in a very root bound pot, got transplanted and placed in a nice dappled shady spot where it decided to loose all of those beautiful leaves, one at a time. Here it is starting again.

The next two are my fault. Both beautiful last year, got overwatered in the greenhouse, died back but are now returning from the dead.

Newish plants growing strangely inside the greenhouse.

Perhaps I should feed them?

Let's move on from the failures, shall we. B.pedatifida looks happy.

As does this species.

This big-leafed begonia seems very happy. Opie (opuntia) on the right is waving hello to you.

A tuberous begonia, grown mostly for it's flowers, also has beautiful leaves.

Spotty character in the concrete jungle.

B. 'San Miguel,' with me for three years, didn't make it outside this summer but doesn't seem to mind. It just keeps growing into a amorphous mass of hirsute leaves.

The astute reader will notice that these aren't begonias but rather lithops that I'm ever so proud of not killing yet. Give me time, It's only been a few months.

Your Begonias all look great, even the ones you think are growing a bit weird. Mine have done that too, I don't know why. We both got that dead-looking one from Windcliff, mine has lost its two leaves, and is starting a couple of tiny new ones. I hope I don't kill it, but how will I know if I have?

I'm enamored with the Jurassic begonia. So vibrant.I was lucky to be gifted a couple of tuberous begonias. Both did wonderfully for a while. Then I accidentally knocked off the stem of one... They are quite brittle. It is trying to make a comeback. The remaining one is gloriously happy and in bloom!

Peter ,many of your begonias are jaw dropping gorgeous. (One of them did make my jaw drop)I need a green house if only I could find room for one. Moving to a larger property may be the answer and then I could buy more plants too it's a win win. I better start looking for property. Glenda

Oh my, what an impressive collection of Begonias! My mom always has plenty of them around, too. Aside from a few B. semperflorens placed as potted annuals in the past, I haven't been hit by the bug, although you've tempted me to give some of the larger varieties a try, like my mom.

Many Begonias just don't photograph well I think -- you have to experience them in person. But my own experience tells me that you have some really cool ones, and the Begonia pedatifida is surprising to me -- doesn't look like a begonia to me!

Begonias are hard to photograph well. I have one called 'Old Blue' with that same kind of sheen and I can never capture it satisfactorily. I actually love the leaves of tuberous begonias when they have bright green veins like the ones you pictured. I think they're gorgeous. You've got lots of lovely begonias. Iron Cross is one of my favorites. I should give it another try. Congrats on not killing those lithops! I'd be excited to keep them alive even for only a few months, too!

You have a fantastic collection of Begonias, I seem to be very good at killing them! I had some tuberous ones in a planter last year, forgot to bring them in for the winter and assumed I had lost them....no, up they popped and are now flowering beautifully!

Begonias are great plants. Your collection is impressive to those of us who just have one or 2 kinds. If I happen to run across a Rex Begonia or two I might start a collection for which there is no room.

Cool lithops! But I'm really taken with the begonia leaves. They look dramatic and a little dark and dangerous, don't they? Like something Maleficent or Cruella de Ville would make into a stiff-collared cape.

About Me

Why Outlaw Gardener? I like to break the rules of good taste, plant placement, and plant hardiness. Also, I have received periodic "love notes" from the city code enforcement officer telling me that my parking strip plants encroach on the city's right-of-way. When expressing my distress over the latest such notice, I exclaimed to my pal Loree (Danger Garden) "I'm an outlaw gardener!" To which she replied,"That would be a good name for a blog."
My first gardens were in Southeast Alaska (zone 3.)I do miss the beauty and community of small-town Alaska but I don't take for granted for a moment how wonderful it is to garden in zone 8.